Fragment of a Portrait Head of Antinous

130-138

Roman

This portrait depicts Antinous (about 111–130), the young lover of Emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–38). His characteristic facial features include an oval face, smooth complexion, almond-shaped eyes, and full lips, as well as his distinctive hairstyle of thick, wavy locks radiating from the crown of his head. This sculpture is a fragment from a larger whole, and for many years it was unclear what form the original, intact work had taken. Recent scholarship indicates that it once belonged to an over-life-size bust of Antinous currently in the Palazzo Altemps in Rome.

Status: On View, Gallery 152
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Fragment of a Portrait Head of Antinous
Place: Italy (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 130 CE–138 CE
Medium: Marble
Dimensions: 31.7 × 31 × 17 cm (12 1/2 × 12 × 6 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Charles L. Hutchinson
Reference Number: 1924.979
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/13852/manifest.json

Frank B. Tarbell, “A Marble Head of Antinous belonging to Mr. Charles L. Hutchinson of Chicago,” Art in America, II (1913), pp. 68-71.
Art Institute of Chicago, “Back Matter,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago vol. 23, no. 1 (January 1929), p. 12.
“City Spaces: Henry Geldzahler,” Brutus (Burutasu) 50 (Sept. 15, 1982), p. 48 (ill.).
“La Casa delle Collezioni (The House of Collections),” Domus (Aug.–Sept. 1983), pp. 34–35 (ill.).
Cornelius C. Vermeule III, “Roman Imperial Persons in North America,” Celator 17, 12 (Dec. 2003), p. 30.
Cornelius C. Vermeule III, “Faces of Empire,” Celator 19, 12 (Dec. 2005), p. 24, fig. 4.
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 31, fig. 15.
Karen Manchester, “Cat. 9 Fragment of a Portrait Head of Antinous: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
Rachel C. Sabino and John Twilley, with contributions by Lorenzo Lazzarini, “Cat. 9 Fragment of a Portrait Head of Antinous: Technical Report,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
Ashley Arico and Elizabeth Benge,“A New Look at Faces from the Past,” Art Institute of Chicago ARTicle, March 14, 2019.
Elizabeth Benge,“Antinous 2.0: The New Face of an Old Favorite,” Art Institute of Chicago ARTicle, August 3, 2020.

Art Institute of Chicago, Sculpture From the Classical Collection, Gallery 101A, September 1, 1987 - August 31, 1988, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago’s Dream, a World’s Treasure: The Art Institute, 1893–2007, Nov. 1, 1993–Jan. 9, 1994, not in cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Death on the Nile, Mar. 15–Apr. 17, 2008, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 156, April 20, 1994 - February 6, 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 152, November 11, 2012 - present.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Portrait of Antinous, in Two Parts, Gallery 154, April 2 - September 5, 2016, no cat.
Museo Nazionale Romano in Palazzo Altemps, Rome, Italy, Antinoo, un ritratto in due parti, September 14, 2016–January 15, 2017, no cat.

Attilio Simonetti (1843-1925), Rome; sold to Charles L. Hutchinson (1854-1924), Chicago, 1898 [receipt in curatorial file]; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1924.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.